


Switching Genres

by notcool



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: But he figures it out in the end, Comedy, Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders Being an Idiot, Gen, Logan and Virgil are just background characters here, Minor Original Character(s), Morality | Patton Sanders is a Sweetheart, Patton has common sense, Roman being all Princely, The Imagination Room (Sanders Sides), as he does, how does one tag, ill give him that, roman tries
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-30
Updated: 2020-09-08
Packaged: 2021-03-06 15:54:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,869
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26201473
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/notcool/pseuds/notcool
Summary: Patton joins Roman on an adventure in the Imagination, and, naturally, has to add his own spin on how said adventure should go (whether he realizes he's doing it or not)
Relationships: Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders & Morality | Patton Sanders
Comments: 1
Kudos: 9





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So I just thought well if Roman goes on adventures and it's all bravery and dramatics, that if you added in one of the other sides, the adventure would twist to also accommodate their qualities... and here we are.

_ There is no such thing as fiction. Just non-fiction written in the wrong parallel universe. _

_ -Night Vale Podcast _

\-------

Thomas was asleep, leaving the sides to their own devices for the lazy hours until the inevitable buzzing of the alarm clock.

Virgil was curled on the edge of the couch, aggressively sketching tarantulas in an old notepad by the dim light of the lamp on the side table. Logan had tried to convince him to turn on the overhead light, but given up when the only reply he could elicit was an angry hiss.

Roman had announced he was going to go on adventure, and Patton, with nothing else to do, had requested to go with him.

Logan waved a distracted goodbye as they entered the Imagination, Roman striding ahead with his sword drawn, and Patton practically skipping along behind him, returning Logan's wave with a grin before closing the door behind them.

"So!" Patton chirped, spinning to take in the sweeping desert they had been dropped into. "What kind of adventure are we going on?"

"Not entirely sure," Roman suddenly had a scroll in his hand, and was narrowing his eyes to read it in the bright sun. "I pull most elements from the Subconscious to make things more random. Adventures aren't really fun if you know what's going to happen, after all!"

"Sounds fun!" Patton tip-toed to peer over Roman's shoulder. "So what's the scroll say?"

Roman tapped at the yellowing page fondly. "It says that there is a monster in this desert that has been terrorizing the local villages. We shall find and vanquish this beast!"

"Awesome!" Patton clapped his hands. "...How do we do that?"

Roman lifted his sword, using it to point across the sands, where a small village poked up in the distance. "We'll start by going there! Maybe the villagers can tell us where this beast has its lair!"

Patton tilted his head to the side, putting up a hand to shield his eyes. "It's a bit far away."

"Ah, no worries!" Roman bent to shove the scroll into his boot, then put two fingers in his mouth, whistling two short, sharp calls.

"I didn't know you could do that!" Patton said. "Does Thomas even know how to do that? ...Do _I_ know how to do that?" He shoved his thumb and index finger into his mouth, attempting to whistle through them and failing dreadfully, making Roman grin.

"Nah," He chuckled. "I'll teach you later, if you want."

Patton returned the grin, wiping his hand off on his shirt. "Thanks! I think I just need to- oh, is that what you were calling for?"

Roman turned to see the white stallion charging across the sands towards them. "There's my boy!"

The stallion reached them much faster than any real horse properly should have, but Patton wasn't complaining. Not that Thomas had been around many horses, but Patton was sure this one was a lot taller than the usual, as well as a lot stronger-looking.

The stallion lowered its head to nudge at Roman's chest. The prince, in turn, laughed merrily and scratched behind the horse's ears. "Good to see you too boy. Look, this is my friend Patton! He's coming on an adventure with us today."

The stallion snorted and turned to nudge Patton's shoulder.

Patton giggled, awkwardly reaching up to pat the top of the large white head. "Nice to meet you!" He leaned to look around the head, frowning a bit. "How do you ride him? He doesn't have a saddle."

Roman grinned, patting Patton on the back as he came around and grasped the base of the thick white mane.

In one powerful, fluid movement the prince had hauled himself onto the stallion's back, grinning down at Patton as he shifted forward to make room for his friend. "Wanna hand up?"

Patton swallowed, for a moment doubting that this whole thing was a good idea. But only for a moment. He took the hand Roman offered, and on the count of three jumped, allowing the prince to pull him in the right direction until he too was settled on the stallion's bare back.

He could feel the steed moving under him, the stretch of its giant lungs where his legs gripped at the sides, and he laughed, suddenly feeling like a little child on a pony ride at the fair. Taller than ever and giddy with anticipation that this large, magnificent being was now carrying him.

Roman tangled his fingers tighter into the mane, smirking over his shoulder. "Hold on, Pat. Wouldn't want you to fall off."

Patton managed to quell his laughter enough to properly wrap his arms around Roman's waist, although he could still feel his body shivering with adrenaline. 

"Let's go, boy!"

There was a high-pitched squeal as the stallion reared up, and Patton could only assume it was him from the wild bark of laughter that Roman let out as they surged forward, charging across the sands at an unnatural speed.

The wind was whipping at his hair and clothes, leaving his breath long lost behind them, but in the exhilarating rush of it all Patton couldn't find it in him to be concerned.

In minutes the village was in view, and Patton was breathless but somehow still holding onto remnants of laughter as their mount slowed to a stop at the entrance to the village.

Those remnants were quickly discarded, though - the village was in ruin, clay buildings in pieces and some half-buried in the sand. The wall enclosing the village was torn in several places, simply collapsed in others.

"Oh." Patton said quietly.

Roman slid to the ground, helping Patton down before turning to scowl at the damage. "The beast must have been here." He walked into the village, looking over the buildings that were still (mostly) standing. "Maybe there's a clue somewhere here..."

"Sticks." Patton said, staring directly at the ground from where he had stopped just a few steps inside the village wall.

"No, we need to find like, a magic weapon, or an encrypted note, or a secret passageway-"

"Sticks." Patton said again, nodding his head pointedly to the handful of twigs he was standing over. "There's sticks here."

"Patton, we need to find something that can tell us what happened-"

"Roman, there's sticks here!" Patton waved both his arms at the little pile, seeming far too excited for such a discovery.

"Um, yes. Sticks." Roman tried to think of something to say. "You found some sticks. Now, if we can-"

"Roman!" Patton snapped, arms waving faster. "We're in a _desert_!"

"Patton seriously I-" He stopped, a grin slowly creeping onto his face. "We're in a desert!" He hopped over a fallen stone pillar and bounded to Patton's side to join him in staring suspiciously down at the handful of lithe little branches.

"Sticks..." Roman rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "How did sticks get here..."

Patton crouched, adjusting his glasses. "They're still a bit springy. Like they were just picked off their tree."

"Interesting..." Roman knelt as well, narrowing his eyes at the offending pile. "Where could they have come from..."

"Is that... dirt under them? Like, normal, brown dirt?" Patton reached out a hand, poking the sticks to let him see better.

As soon as his finger made contact with a twig, colourful sparks flew from the little pile, and a hazy orange circle appeared beneath the kneeling sides.

Patton had just enough time to make startled eye contact with Roman, squeaking a short, "Uh-oh." 

And then they were falling.


	2. Co-Authors of (this) Reality

They didn't fall for very long, but boy, was it fast.

Patton groaned, blinking at their overly bright surroundings.

Towers. Grand, majestic towers, made entirely of… sand.

“Roman, look!” Patton whispered, reaching out to swat vaguely in his friend’s direction. “We’re in a sand castle!”

Roman was pushing himself off the ground, spitting and making disgusted noises as he tried to rid his mouth of the sand he had been dropped face-first into. “We’re… what?”

“A sand castle!” Patton clambered to his feet, finding this sand hard and steady beneath his feet, much unlike the heavy, clingy sand back at the village. “The question is, is this a really big sand castle… or are we really small?”

“I’m not sure it matters.” Roman removed his sash and swiped his hand down it, only half-succeeding in getting the shimmering little grains out of the folds. “We seem to have been teleported by some kind of magic. I believe this castle might belong to our monster.”

Patton grinned, hands on his hips as he tilted his head back to survey the intricate turrets atop the towers. “Well, this monster’s quite the architect!”

Roman slipped his sash back on with a scowl. “Perhaps. Let’s focus on finding the monster first.”

Looking around, Roman announced that they were in the bailey. Patton didn’t really know what that meant, but happily followed when the creative side chose a direction and started marching.

They were soon inside the castle itself, and Roman wove expertly through the halls until a large, delicate archway appeared ahead.

Roman stopped. “Alright,” he whispered, slowly drawing his sword. “That’s the entrance to the throne room. If our monster lives in this castle, that’s where they’ll be.”

“The throne room?” Patton frowned. “But, if they live here, wouldn’t they be like, I dunno, in their bedroom or something? Maybe a nice little sitting room?”

Roman made a face. “No great battle ever occurred in a sitting room! Of course they’re here!”

“Battle?”

“Of course a battle. What else? Why do you think I have this sword?”

Patton didn’t seem convinced, but shrugged and let the creative side take the lead - this was his territory, after all.

Roman braced himself, grip tightening on his sword, then all at once he charged around the corner and into the throne room, howling what Patton could only guess was supposed to be a battle cry.

There, on a massive throne that towered far over human height, sat a horrible creature.

Human, in theory perhaps, but the thin sharpened plates that folded as natural armor over the skin made the familiar two legs, two arms and a head seem alien.

The beast tilted its head down at Roman, plates making a gruesome, crunchy rustling as they shifted with the movement, following the head to the side, the cheeks stretching into a horrible smile.

“Ah, a great and noble warrior has come to vanquish me.” The creature trilled, deep and unsettling. “How  _ cute _ .”

Patton had yet to enter the throne room, just peeking in from the hallway with wide eyes and lopsided glasses. He stayed exactly where he was as Roman swiped his sword in a challenge.

“Are you the beast that has been destroying villages across this desert?”

The awful smile widened. “You are here for vengeance on their behalf. You are not the first, noble warrior, to fall to me… just as you will not be the last.”

“I order you to leave this desert and its peoples be!” Roman commanded, rather boldy for someone who was about a third of the size of his opponent. “Otherwise I shall be forced to remove you from these lands!”

“Oh,  _ will _ you?” The monster left the throne - not standing, no. Its plates shuffled amongst themselves with that horrible crunching sound, ones towards the back curling to the front to bring the whole image forward, almost pixelated movement.

It was no longer even remotely human, a mass of sharp, coppery plates shifting and clicking menacingly around that over-wide smile.

“You have come to my home, little princling.” The beast trilled, its jumbling mass edging closer to Roman. “And expect to give me orders? Expect me to be… hospitable, when you so rudely swing your weapons about? Oh, little warrior, you have no idea what you have walked into, no conception of the horrors you are about to witness. I, Elsgerta, Sand Witch of the Dead Lands, Destroyer of Nations, will-”

“Okay, now I’m really confused.”

Both creature and Roman jerked around to blink at Patton, standing awkwardly under the archway to the throne room, chewing his lip and obviously more curious than fearful. If, indeed, he was fearful at all.

“ _ Who _ ?” The beast growled, smile dispersing to bare rows of needle-like teeth. “Are  _ you _ ?”

“Oh, sorry.” Patton offered a slightly crooked grin (or maybe it was just that his glasses were crooked. Roman wasn’t sure.) “I’m Patton!” He gave a little wave. “And, uh, I’m really sorry to interrupt but… did you just say you were a sandwich? ‘Cause, I must say, that one’s really bothering me.”

Neither beast nor prince spoke, just staring at him.

“Uh…” Patton rubbed his neck. “I mean… just that, well, you don’t really  _ look  _ like a sandwich- not to say you can’t be a sandwich, I mean if you really want to, I’m sure you can be whatever you want, I’m just not really… seeing it, I guess?”

Body remaining completely motionless, the creature’s eyes slowly looked to Roman. “What. Is. This.  _ Thing _ ?”

Roman coughed, fingers tapping uncertainly on his sword grip. “I um. Uh, Patton?”

“Yeah?”

“This isn’t exactly how adventures are meant to-”

“It. Is.  _ Adorable! _ ” All at once the beast was shifting forward almost faster than Roman could see, curling around Patton and lifting him up with a tendril of plates.

“Oh!” Patton squeaked, wriggling and freeing his arms just in time to keep his glasses from tumbling away. “I-uh! Thank you- uh, sandwich?”

Roman gaped.

The beast was trilling that awful, rattling trill, smiling that awful smile with those awful teeth, but Patton didn’t seem concerned in the least.

The moral side just hung there, feet swinging absently every so often as he nodded and chatted with the monster tone as cheery and light as ever.

Roman couldn’t even register what was being said; there was a soft glisten to the surroundings that should have been familiar, should have been easily recognized as the thoughts and dreams that tied the Imagination together, but…

Roman reached out a hand, trying to feel the world around, the world that he knew to have daring adventure thick in its metaphorical veins.

It was… it was… soft? Yeah… soft. And warm. It tickled a little. Roman realized he was smiling all of a sudden. It was just so… happy! Why shouldn’t he be smiling? This was such a wonderful place…

Wait, that wasn’t right. Was it?

Roman shook the feeling away, blinking to refocus on Patton and the monster - but there was no more monster.

The creature that was coiled around Patton somehow didn’t look frightening anymore. Physically, Roman couldn’t point out anything that had changed, but the fight-or-flight instinct was simply gone, the beast looking more like a very large friend than a very large foe.

“P-Patton?”

Patton looked to him, beaming like everything was just right in the world. “Hey, Roman! We’ve got it all worked out! Elsgerta here was just explaining to me that they’re a  _ sand witch _ , like, a magic witch that can control sand - not a sandwich like the food! I feel so silly! Oh, also we decided it’s kind of pointless to destroy villages when there’s so much other cooler stuff to do. Like building snowmen out of sand: sandmen! Oh that’s funny! Sandmen! Ya know, like Mr. Sandman?”

Roman could only blink up at his friend, completely lost in his own element, in his own  _ Imagination _ for heaven’s sake.

“Ah, there is an oasis to the north!” The monster trilled, eyes bright and sharp teeth bared in a smile that Roman wasn’t sure how to interpret. “I could make a  _ really _ big water slide made of sand!”

“You  _ could _ !” Patton perked, attention completely stolen back into the conversation.

Roman was left to continue staring in total confusion as Morality chatted animatedly about the various things Elsgerta, the Sand Witch of the Dead Lands, Destroyer of Nations, could construct out of sand using their magic.

The whole imagination was subtly shifting, all in response… to Patton.

“He’s changing the script.” Roman realized, a grin tugging at the corner of his mouth. “He’s changing the narrative of the adventure just by  _ being _ here… this is… awesome!”

“Awesome?” Patton chirped, looking up from where he had been set down and was assisting one of Elsgerta’s tendrils in constructing a mini sand-sculpture. “What’s awesome? My sandman? Do you like it Roman?” He gestured proudly to the lopsided lump of sand with a smiley face drawn into it. 

Patton didn’t even know what was happening…

“Yeah, Padré,” Roman grinned completely now, unable to resist its tug as ideas and theories ran through his head at an impossible speed. “I think it’s beautiful.”

Patton beamed.

Oh, Roman couldn’t wait to get back to the common area - he was dragging Logan and Virgil into the Imagination against any protest they gave.

What would Logan’s linear and precise mannurasims do to the fabric of the Imagination? What would Virgil’s heightened senses and foreboding demeanor look like reflected in a physical form?

What if he took both Logan and Patton at once? Or Virgil and Logan? Or Virgil and Patton?

Oh, this was gonna be fun.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I guess I just headcanon that the Imagination shapes itself differently based on which sides are present to influence it, and well, this fic happened. Hope ya'll liked!


End file.
